Apparatus for orientation of fish with respect to the position of abdomen &amp; dorsum

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to an apparatus for the orientation of fish with respect to the position of abdomen and dorsum. The fishes (6, 7) are thrown head first against an oblique, preferably curved guide element (5) in such a way that the center of gravity of the head (8) of the fish lies sidewards from the perpendicular to the guide element (5) through the contact point of the fish, due to which the fish turns into contact with the guide element (5) and into the same orientation with respect to the direction of abdomen and dorsum, irrespective of, whether the fish hits the guide element with dorsum or with abdomen.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for orientation of fishwith respect to the position of abdomen and dorsum.

There exists a need for such an orientation in charging machines forfish. The U.S. Pat. No. 3,514,811 discloses an apparatus, the operationof which is based on the fact that the centre of gravity of the fish issituated closer to the dorsum and that the dorsum therefore tries toreach the deepest point of a V-shaped chute. Errors appear in theorientation, when the cross section of the fish is less distinctlytriangular, especially at the abdominal section of the fish. Moreover,the chute shall be dimensioned considering the fish size in question.

The German Auslegeschrift 16 79 060, the Swedish PublishedSpecifications 324 045 and 366 203 as well as the Finnish PatentApplication 811370 disclose different embodiments of orientationapparatuses generally based on the principle that the fish is more orless squeezed at the dorsal and abdominal side, whereby the fish turnsto a position desired. These apparatuses have the drawback that the fishgets easily damaged. Efforts have been made to solve this problem byarranging the elements squeezing the fish yieldingly resilient, mainlyin the axial direction, to eliminate the restraining influence of thefriction, or e.g. in the form of two rotary brushes, as shown in theFinnish Patent Application 811370. Hereby it is, however, necessary toadapt partly the space between the elements and partly the stiffness ofthe elements in proportion to the weight of the fish. Since automaticcharging machines are mainly used in connection with smaller shoal fish,it shall be possible to adjust these machines for handling fish withinthe weight area of 10 to 500 g per fish, which means quite a number ofdifferent sets of brushes or similar elements.

The object of the present invention is to provide a new apparatus fororientation of fish with respect to the position of abdomen and dorsum,the outer dimensions of which apparatus are small and which is capableof handling fish of very varying sizes at high capacity.

The apparatus of the invention is mainly characterized in that itcomprises a device for bringing the fish in motion head first at a speeddesired and a guide element arranged at a distance after this device inthe path of motion of the fish in such a way that the head of the fishhits the guide element obliquely both with respect to the direction ofmotion of the fish and also with respect to the middle plane of the fishhead so that the centre of gravity of the fish head lies sidewards fromthe perpendicular to the guide element through the contact point of thefish, due to which the fish turns under the influence of its own massinto sideward contact with the guide element and into the sameorientation with respect to the direction for abdomen and dorsum,irrespective of, whether the fish hits the guide element with dorsum orwith abdomen.

The invention utilizes the fact that most fishes have a triangular crosssection of head, the sides of the fish head forming the sides of anisosceles triangle, the base of which is formed by the neck of the fish,which neck is halved by the middle plane of the fish head. When the fishhead hits the guide element at high speed, preferably in such a way thatone side of the head forms an essentially right angle with the surfaceof the guide element, the fish rolls against the side where the centreof gravity is situated with respect to the perpendicular through thecontact point on the surface of the guide element, on account of whichthe dorsum and the abdomen, respectively, always are directed to thesame direction. It is enough that the head section of the fish istriangular, the rest of the body follows in the same direction, eventhough the cross section of the body is not triangular. At a change ofdirection, the normal force functioning through the mass of the fishgenerally is at least ten times the force of gravity, thanks to whichthe fish does not behave like a stiff fish, but the turning occursinstead rather like a wave through the fish at the point of contact.Consequently, the head section of the fish can be turned nearly 90°,while the tail section still maintains its original direction. Thefriction between the fish and the guide element can be considered aszero, because the friction in question is motion friction, the guideelement can possibly be sprayed with water.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the device for bringing thefish in motion head first at a speed desired is an accelerator with arotary brush or the like in connection with a curved guide element, theoutlet guide surface of which forms an at least essentially right anglewith the inlet guide surface of the guide element situated after theaccelerator. The guide element arranged after the accelerator ispreferably curved in a direction forming an at least essentially rightangle with the outlet plane of the accelerator.

The apparatus according to the invention has following advantages:

Since the angle of impact and the radius of the curve can be adapted tothe speed of the fish, the apparatus as such does not restrict themaximum possible speed, for which reason the capacity is high.

Since the fish is influenced by forces for the alignment and themaintainance of the position, which forces exceed many times the forcespossibly working within the fish on account of death stiffness or lowtemperature, the difficulties with the alignment of fish stiffened forinstance in a curve form are avoided.

Since these forces are distributed evenly on the fish without point loadon vital parts, the apparatus handles the fish extremely gently.

Since the orientation is based only on the influence of the normal forceon the fish, an adjustment of the apparatus with respect to the size ofthe fish is omitted within very great intervals.

Since the forces aiming at balance at the orientation of the fish areconsiderable and work without friction and from an exact startingposition for each fish, the percentage of error is low, even inconnection with fishes with a less distinctly triangular cross sectionof the head as well as of the body.

Since the angle of the curved guide element with the throw-out plane canat a given passage speed be compensated for the force of gravity, theapparatus can operate in any position, and since the apparatuspreferably operates in an upright position, whereby the fish istransported upwards, constructional advantages are achieved for theunit, to which the apparatus belongs.

Since the fish is during the passage surrounded only by air at threesides, standstill and stoppage cannot appear during operation.

Since the fish falls off the guide element of itself in nearly allpossible mounting positions of the apparatus, the apparatus isself-cleaning at accumulations possibly appearing at sudden (emergency)standstills, which often occur in processing machines of a certain kind.

Because the function of the apparatus of the invention is based on themotion energy stored in the fish, a relatively high passage speed ispresupposed. A speed of 3 to 6 m/second is suitable in most cases. Theapparatus can preferably be used for instance in an automatic chargingmachine with a fast operating synchronizing apparatus, e.g. according tothe PCT Patent Application FI85/00026, but the apparatus can also beadapted to a slower fish flow if the curved guide element orientatingthe fish ends in a retardation brush. On account of the fast fish flow,a high handling capacity is also achieved with one orientation channelonly; the small dimensions of the apparatus are advantageous especiallyon board a ship as well as often a precondition for that processingmachines can be provided with automatic charging within the scope of anexisting assembly plan.

The invention shall be described in more detail in the followingreferring to the drawing enclosed which, by way of example, shows apreferred embodiment.

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of an embodiment of the apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view along the line A--A in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are sectional views along the line B.B in FIG. 2 and showthe two different situations when the fish hits the guide element withthe dorsal side and the abdominal side, respectively.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are sectional views along the line C--C in FIG. 1 and showthe final orientation of the fish after the contact of the dorsal sideand the abdominal side, respectively, with the guide element.

FIG. 7 shows an example of how the orientation apparatus of theinvention can be arranged in a charging machine.

The reference numeral 1 in the drawing indicates a rotary brush and 2 acurved chute running along a section of the periphery of the brush 1.The numeral 3 indicates the edge of the chute. Fishes coming head firstfrom the left in FIG. 1 are thrown out by the brush 1 from the end ofthe chute 2, to the right in FIG. 1, in a plane 4 coinciding with thedirection of the bottom of the chute 2 at the outlet end and in FIG. 1transversely to the direction plane. The reference numeral 5 indicates aguide element, against which the fishes 6 and 7 are thrown for theorientation with respect to the position of abdomen and dorsum in such away that the dorsum of the fishes is turned to the left in FIG. 1 andthe abdomen of the fishes to the right in the figure, irrespective of,whether the fishes hit the guide element 5 dorsum first, as the fish 6in FIG. 1, or abdomen first. The head section of the fishes 6 hittingthe guide element 5 in the FIGS. 1 and 2 is indicated by 8.

The chute 2 is at its inlet end preferably formed somewhat oblique topromote fishes of a smaller size to come to one side of the chute inorder to achieve a starting position as homogeneous as possible beforethe contact with the guide element 5. The brush 1 or the like can beformed longer and conical, whereby the accelerator can by means of axialdisplacement be easily adapted to the capacity of the apparatus ofhandling fishes of varying size.

In the following, the motion of the fish from the so-called insertposition shown by the fish 6 in the FIGS. 1 and 2 to the orientatedposition shown by the fish 7 is described more closely referring to theFIGS. 3 to 6.

The middle plane of the fish head 8 running through the centre ofgravity of the head and halving the neck is indicated by means of thereference numeral 9. The sides of the head, i.e. the "cheeks", areindicated by 10 and 11. The perpendicular to the inlet guide surface 5aof the guide element 5 through the point of contact of the fish isindicated by 12 in FIG. 3 and by 13 in FIG. 4. Because the centre ofgravity of the fish head 8 is situated to the right from theperpendicular 12 in FIG. 3 and to the left from the perpendicular 13 inFIG. 4, which is shown by means of the unnumbered force vectors ofdifferent sizes directed downwards through the centres of gravity of thefish head sections at respective sides of the perpendiculars 12 and 13,the fish head 8 will always be turned with the neck to the left afterhaving hit the guide surface 5a, as is shown in the FIGS. 5 and 6. Inthe drawing, the levels 4 and 5a are perpendicular to each other, acertain deviation can be allowed, of course, for instance in order tocompensate the force of gravity in connection with a horizontalembodiment or in order to facilitate (accelerate) the alignment from theusually less favourable dorsal position (FIG. 3), as long as the centreof gravity of the fish head 8 is situated at the right side of theperpendicular 12 and 13, respectively. The desired "straightening" ofthe fish in spite of possible death stiffness is achieved by letting thecentrifugal force influence on the fish during its motion along thecurved chute 2, thanks to which the fish is brought into an accuratelydefined starting position before the alignment. Thanks to the fact thatalso the guide element 5 is formed curved, preferably perpendicular tothe throw-out level of the chute, the centrifugal force is utilized inorder to guarantee that the alignment of the fish is maintained duringfurther transportation.

FIG. 7 shows one possibility how to utilize the orientation apparatus ofthe invention in a charging machine. On the bottom of a buffer stock forfish there are two conveyor belts 20 and 21 feeding fish in dosagesproportioned relatively roughly to an underlying device 22 for theorientation of the fish with respect to head and tail. A vibrating belt23 with parallel chutes orientates the fish lengthwise, a part of thefish moves head first directly between a roll, or a brush 24 and a guideplate 25 to a conveyor belt 28, the rest of the fish passes at firstbetween a roll 26 and a guide plate 27 and from there head first to theroll 24 and the guide plate 25.

After the conveyor 28 there are two further devices 29 comprising a rolland a guide plate, from which devices the fish is fed head first to theorientation apparatus of the invention. After the orientation element 5there are devices for further transportation of the fish into a fishprocessing machine, for instance a filleting machine, at the same speedas the operating speed of the machine. The reference numeral 30indicates a synchronizing device, 31 indicates a conveyor belt providedwith receiving compartments and belonging to a fish processing machine,and the reference numeral 40 indicates a number of motors, for instanceelectric motors, used for the operation of the different parts of themachine. The devices 30 and 31 can operate in the manner described inthe PCT Patent Application FI 85/00026.

The alignment of the fish in the feeding device 30 can be carried outfor instance in such a way that the edge of the outlet end 15 of theorientation element 5 is bent downwards so that the fish slides intocontact with the vertical support wall 16, which can be formedapproximately curved to achieve the same effect alternatively, in thesame way in principle as described above in connection with the brush 1and the chute 2. The numeral 17 indicates a device for spraying water onthe sliding surface of the orientation element 5.

The drawing shows a preferred embodiment of the invention, but itsdetails can vary within the scope of the following claims, of course.Consequently, apparatuses of another kind for throwing the fish inalignment desired against the orientation element 5 are conceivable.

As mentioned above, the apparatus of the present invention, as it hasbeen described up till now, essentially utilizes the fact that mostshoal fishes relevant here have a more or less triangular cross section.To achieve the orientation desired, it is in most cases enough that onlythe head has a triangular cross section.

However, it can also occur that the heads of the fishes have been cutoff in advance, or that a relatively big part of the fishes have got thehead deformed or torn off when they were caught. If the body of the fishin such a case has a less distinctly triangular cross section, it can beappropriate to utilize some additional devices in order to guaranteethat the centre of gravity of the part of the fish hitting the guideelement 5 will lie at the right side of the perpendicular 12 through thepoint of contact on the guide element 5.

This can preferably be carried out in such a way that the guide element5 is made in two subsequent parts, whereby the part hit by the fish 6 iscaused to turn a little into a direction appropriate in each particularcase. Another possibility is that the outlet end of the chute 2 isformed separately turnable to give the fish an initial turn when thrown.Further, it is possible to influence the fish during its flight betweenthe chute 2 and the guide element 5, which can be done by means of watersprays or mechanical control means. In all these cases, the position ofthe fish with respect to abdomen and dorsum must be known, when the fishis in the throw-out chute 2, for which purpose optical detectorsgenerally available on the market can be used. Necessary motions of theguide element 5 or the chute 2 etc. can be caused by means ofservomechanisms, pneumatic cylinders or the like, also generallyavailable. One skilled in the art has, in fact, no difficulties to carryout these arrangements, for which reason they are not shown in thedrawing.

I claim:
 1. An apparatus for orientation of fish with respect to theposition of abdomen and dorsum, characterized in that it comprisesadevice (1, 2) for bringing the fish (6, 7) in motion head first at aspeed desired and a guide element (5) arranged at a distance after thisdevice (1, 2) in the path of motion of the fish in such a way that thehead (8) of the fish (6) hits the guide element (5) obliquely both withrespect to the direction of motion of the fish and also with respect tothe middle plane (9) of the fish head (8) so that the centre of gravityof the head (8) of the fish (6) lies sidewards from the perpendicular(12, 13) to the guide element (5) through the contact point of the fish,due to which the fish turns under the influence of its own mass intosideward contact with the guide element (5) and into the sameorientation with respect to the direction of abdomen and dorsum,irrespective of, whether the fish hits the guide element with dorsum orwith abdomen.
 2. An apparatus according to claim 1, characterized inthat the device for bringing the fish in motion head first at a speeddesired comprises a rotary brush (1) or the like in connection with acurved guide element (2) for throwing the fish in a direction desired.3. An apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the guideelement (5) situated after the device for bringing the fish in motionhead first at a speed desired is arranged obliquely with respect to themiddle plane (9) of the fish head so that one side (10, 11) of the head(8) of the fish (6) forms an at least essentially right angle with theguide element, when the head of the fish hits it.
 4. An apparatusaccording to claim 2, characterized in that the outlet guide surface (4)of the guide element (2) included in the device for bringing the fish inmotion head first at a speed desired forms an at least essentially rightangle with the inlet guide surface (5a) of the guide element situatedafter the accelerator.
 5. An apparatus according to claim 1,characterized in that the guide element (5) arranged after the devicefor bringing the fish in motion head first at a speed desired is curvedin a direction at least essentially in a right angle with respect to thepath of motion of the fish.
 6. An apparatus according to claim 1,characterized in that the guide element (5) situated after the devicefor bringing the fish in motion head first at a speed desired has asupport surface (16) on its one side, and that the guide element (5)towards its outlet end (15) forms a smaller angle than 90° with thesupport surface (16).
 7. An apparatus according to claim 1,characterized in that it additionally comprises a detector arranged forthe definition of the position of the fish with respect to abdomen anddorsum, preferably before the device (1, 2) for bringing the fish (6, 7)in motion head first at a speed desired and means for the provision ofan initial turn desired in relation to the fish (6) and the orientationelement (5).